Select Leisure Reading Books
The following is a sample of the leisure reading books currently available. They are located on the New Releases shelves near the Public Services Desk.
Your Brain on Art : How the Arts Transform Us by Call Number: BH301 .P45 M34 2023ISBN: 9780593449233Publication Date: 2023-03-21
The Dirty Tricks Department : Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare by Call Number: D810 .S7 .L57 2023ISBN: 9781250280244Publication Date: 2023-03-07
Africatown : America's Last Slave Ship and the Community It Created by Call Number: F334 .M6 T22 2023ISBN: 9781250766540Publication Date: 2023-02-21
Don't Think, Dear : On Loving and Leaving Ballet by Call Number: GV1788.6 .S36 R63 2023ISBN: 9780358653332Publication Date: 2023-02-28
Chuck Berry : An American Life by Call Number: ML420 .B365 S65 2022ISBN: 9780306921636Publication Date: 2022-11-08
Oscar Wars : A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears by Call Number: PN1993.92 .S34 2023ISBN: 9780062859013Publication Date: 2023-02-21
On the Savage Side : A Novel by Call Number: PS3613 .C38683 O5 2023ISBN: 9780593320709Publication Date: 2023-02-14
Sleep Reimagined : The Fast Track to a Revitalized Life by Call Number: RC548 .N38 2023ISBN: 9781682687116Publication Date: 2022-12-27
Search the Library's Catalog
Use this box to search the library's catalog for books, audiovisual materials, archival holdings, government documents, and more.
Database Trial Available: Value Line
Value Line is the online version of Value Line Investment Survey. It consists of professional research and recommendations on approximately 1,700 stocks representing approximately 90% of the trading volume of all stocks traded in U.S. markets. Trial ends February 18, 2022. Please evaluate your experience using Value Line by clicking the "Trial Database Evaluation Survey" at the top of this page.
Spotlight on Free Resources: Open Textbook Library
The Open Textbook Library is a collection of approximately 280 free online college textbooks on a wide range of academic subjects. The textbooks have been written and reviewed for accuracy by faculty at various colleges and universities and are freely available to anyone to read and print. Subjects include accounting and finance; business, management, and marketing; computer science and information systems; economics; engineering; foreign languages; general education; humanities and language; law; mathematics and statistics; natural and physical sciences; and social sciences. Titles may be accessed by following the link above and through the library's catalog. The Open Textbook Library is a project of the Open Textbook Network, with technical support statewide from LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network. No special login is required from off campus.
Spotlight on New Books
Beaverland : How One Weird Rodent Made America by Call Number: HD9944 .U48 B43 2022ISBN: 9781538755198Publication Date: 2022-12-06From award-winning writer Leila Philip, BEAVERLAND is a masterful work of narrative science writing, a book that highlights, though history and contemporary storytelling, how this weird rodent plays an oversized role in American history and its future. She follows fur trappers who lead her through waist high water, fur traders and fur auctioneers, as well as wildlife managers, PETA activists, Native American environmental vigilantes, scientists, engineers, and the colorful group of activists known as beaver believers. Beginning with the early trans-Atlantic trade in North America, Leila Philip traces the beaver's profound influence on our nation's early economy and feverish western expansion, its first corporations and multi-millionaires. In her pursuit of this weird and wonderful animal, she introduces us to people whose lives are devoted to the beaver, including a Harvard scientist from the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, who uses drones to create 3-dimensional images of beaver dams; and an environmental restoration consultant in the Chesapeake whose nickname is the "beaver whisperer". What emerges is a poignant personal narrative, a startling portrait of the secretive world of the contemporary fur trade, and an engrossing ecological and historical investigation of these heroic animals who, once trapped to the point of extinction, have returned to the landscape as one of the greatest conservation stories of the 20th century. Beautifully written and impeccably researched, BEAVERLAND reveals the profound ways in which one odd creature and the trade surrounding it has shaped history, culture, and our environment.
Leisure Reading Books
Frazar Memorial Library has a leisure reading collection. Through a subscription to Baker & Taylor's book leasing program, the library regularly offers current popular fiction and nonfiction titles, including The New York Times bestsellers. Although the collection is currently small, new books will be added every few months. We may choose to keep the most popular titles, or we may return them for new ones as their popularity wanes. Under the plan, our collection will eventually reach 300 titles per year.
Leisure books are searchable in the library's catalog and are shelved in the library lobby near the Public Services Desk. They circulate for the same length of time as other books. Leisure books are easily identifiable by their clear mylar covers.
The leisure reading collection is in keeping with Frazar Memorial Library's mission of providing user-centered collections and services. It allows us to maintain a dynamic collection that is relevant to our users while making optimal use of limited space and resources.
Stop by and see what we have to offer. Comments or questions about the service and suggestions for possible future titles are welcome and may be forwarded to Lonnie Beene at lbeene@mcneese.edu or (337) 475-5724.
EBSCO Ebooks
Frazar Memorial Library makes electronic books (ebooks) available through its subscription to EBSCO's eBook Collection. In addition to being accessible through the EBSCOhost website, our ebooks have records in the online catalog that direct you to ebook titles in EBSCOhost. This is advantageous in that it shows both the print and electronic books we have on a given subject.
Ebooks are identifiable by "[electronic resource]" in the title, a material designator of "Electronic Book," and a Location of "EBSCO eBook--Web Access Required." Since it is not always easy to distinguish print and ebook records from one another at a glance (especially if you're pressed for time), the easiest way to access the library's ebooks is to go directly to the EBSCOhost eBook Collection website and search by keyword or title.
EBSCO ebooks may be downloaded for reading offline for a limited amount of time. Downloading to a Windows or Mac computer requires the use of Adobe Digital Editions software, which is available here as a free download. (Do not download to library computers; they already have it).
For instructions on downloading EBSCO ebooks to a tablet, e-reader, or smartphone, click the "Transfer EBSCO eBooks to a Mobile Device" tab on the library's EBSCO eBooks page.
Subject Guide
McNeese State University
Box 91445
Lake Charles, LA 70609
Google Books Search
For those times when the library doesn't have what you need, perhaps a search of Google Books will help. Please note, however, that Google Books does not make the complete text available for all books. If you need assistance, contact the Reference Desk at (337) 475-5725.
Have a Purchase Suggestion?
If you know of a book or other resource (video, journal, database) that you think the library should purchase, click the "Purchase Request Form" tab at the top of this page to complete a purchase request form. While we can't guarantee that we'll purchase everything, we do add items based on user suggestions, subject to available funds and appropriateness to the collection. Thank you for your interest in improving Frazar Memorial Library.
Library Liaison Assignments
Above is a link to view the library liaison assignments (requires Adobe Reader). Liaisons are those librarians responsible for working with departments to maintain the quality of the library collection in various disciplines.
Last update: June 10, 2019.